Well, we should have seen this coming. As Fidel Castro once said, we all knew from day one this mumbo jumbo wouldn’t fly – the mumbo jumbo about Australia being a real country, that is.
Yep, we’ve finally been rumbled, all thanks to a professor at the United States‘ Southern New Hampshire University. Try as we might, we couldn’t pull the wool over her eyes, and neither could one of her students, 27-year-old Ashley Arnold.
Arnold, a sociology student, had chosen to do an assignment on social media use in Australia as compared to the United States.
Her professor, who presumably had to complete nearly a decade of tertiary education to reach her current position as a university teacher, failed her. Because, in her words, “Australia is a continent; not a country“.
Arnold told BuzzFeed,
At first I thought it was a joke – this can’t be real. Then as I continued to read I realised she was for real.
With her education levels, her expertise, who wouldn’t know Australia is a country? If she’s hesitating or questioning that, why wouldn’t she just google that herself?
The unnamed professor, who has a PhD in philosophy, gave Arnold a score of zero on several sections of her assignment. When Arnold politely confronted her about this, even providing references proving that Australia is, indeed, both a continent AND a country, the prof doubled down.
Research is like dominoes, if you accidentally knock over one piece the entire set will also fall.
Australia is a continent; it is not a country. That error made it nearly impossible for you to accurately complete your week 2 research outline correctly.
When Arnold came back to her with a link to the Australian government website’s “About Australia” section, her professor finally agreed to “do some independent research on the continent/country issue“.
Arnold filed a report with the university, saying, “I’m not going to fail because I chose a country that IS a country.“
This week she received her new grade for the assignment, a B+, but no apology from the professor. However, SNHU has announced on Twitter that they’re refunding Arnold the cost of her course, replacing her professor, and have sincerely apologised to both Arnold and the residents of Australia:
“To our friends in Australia, we know that you are a country & a continent, best of luck in the Olympic games!”
We deeply regret the interaction between our professor & our student. We have apologized to Ashley, replaced the instructor, & are reimbursing her tuition for the course. To our friends in Australia, we know that you are a country & a continent, best of luck in the Olympic games!
— SNHU (@SNHU) February 9, 2018
No-one tell them that we’re an illusion concocted entirely by the round-earth conspiracy, ok? I’m just really happy Ashley Arnold got a passing grade.
